The Ghost In The Graveyard
by alice writes stuff
Summary: When Feliks has to visit his local graveyard for a school project, he expects it to be creepy. However, then he runs into Gilbert Beilschmidt, who is way weirder than he seems. Soon Feliks finds himself dragged into Gilbert's quest for a second life. Will they succeed in time? Will the solution prove to be easier than either of them expected?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

A.N- Happy Halloween guys! I first had this idea last year, but now I've finally written it. It's my first PrusPol story, and I hope you guys like it! Please read and review, all constructive feedback will be greatly appreciated. As usual, I own nothing!

Feliks hadn't wanted to go to the graveyard. He really hadn't. It was cold in here, and there were too many shadows. It felt like something out of a horror movie. Of course, that was probably his own paranoia talking. Nothing bad was going to happen. Really, if it weren't for his history class project he wouldn't be here. They were looking at the impact of the Second World War on local communities. Specifically, their local community. This included the dead soldiers that had come from there. That was what had brought Feliks to the graveyard. There was a small section of war graves at the back, and that was his destination. The only problem was he didn't know the way. He had been wandering around for about five minutes- though it felt way longer- and was just about to give up and admit he was lost when he heard a voice.

"Hey, are you looking for something?" Feliks whipped round and saw that the owner of the voice was a boy about his age, with pale white skin, messy white hair and bright red eyes. He was dressed like a 1970's rocker, with a black leather jacket, band t-shirt and black boots. All that black, contrasting with his pale skin, made him look a little scary, and kinda cool. Feliks wasn't going to admit to thinking either of those things, though.

"Um, who are you?" he hadn't meant to say that. Of course, he had never been good at talking to strangers- especially ones that appeared out of thin air- and that question was all he could get out. The boy smiled and strolled over to him. His footsteps were weirdly silent.

"The name's Gilbert Beilschmidt. What about you? Who are you and why are you here?"

"I'm Feliks Łukasiewicz, and, um, I'm here because," he paused, watching the ground. He wasn't quite brave enough for eye contact at the moment. "Um, I'm looking for the war graves, so, like, if you know where they are, that would help a lot," he glanced back up at Gilbert, done talking for now. The other boy was smiling at him, which only made him feel worse. Gilbert was obviously one of those annoying people who thought his anxiety was funny, or worse, endearing.

"Come on," he said, gesturing back the way Feliks had come. "You'll find them quicker this way. I'll show you, so you don't get lost."

"You really don't have to do that," Feliks sighed, following Gilbert's direction.

"I know I don't, that's what makes me so awesome. I don't have to, but I'm doing it anyway. You probably don't have all day to spend getting lost in here, so let me give you a hand. Trust me, I know where I'm going," Feliks looked at him. He did look like someone who would spend a lot of time in graveyards. After a moment, Feliks decided to take the offer. Gilbert was right, he didn't have all day.

"Okay. There and back again, no detours."

"Deal."

"If you try to do anything else, you'll regret it, understand?"

"Affirmative," after a few moments, Gilbert spoke again. "So, where are you from? If it's okay to ask?"

"First off, I love how you ask if it's okay _after_ you've asked the actual question. Second, my family's from Poland, but I've lived in the UK my whole life- give or take a few summers."

"I see," he smiled. "We've not got far to go now, it's just round this corner and up this path. Can I as something else?" Feliks groaned inwardly. This guy really wasn't as cool as he looked. He talked too much, and asked too many questions. The sooner they were done here, the better. He decided to let Gilbert have one more question, then end it there.

"Sure, but this is the last thing I'm answering, okay?"

"Alright. So, my question is, why do you want to look at the war graves? Do you have any dead relatives among them?"

"It's for school. I'm studying World War Two, and we're looking at the impact it had on local communities. I don't have any dead relatives here. My family moved here after the war, so all our involvement in it happened in Poland," he bit his lip and continued to watch the ground. He wouldn't go on any further, in case he started rambling and Gilbert got bored.

"I see. Well, that's pretty cool! My family's from Germany, so all our war dead are over there," they turned the corner and walked down the path towards the graves.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Feliks asked, glancing at the other boy briefly. He nodded, and Feliks continued. "Do you live around here? I mean, I've lived here most of my life, and I've never seen you before," granted, he'd never really been to the graveyard before, but that wasn't the point.

"That's a little complicated. I'll tell you after we've seen the war graves, okay?" Feliks sighed, but didn't question him further. They arrived shortly after that, and Feliks pulled out his notebook. He started writing down the information on each of the graves. Gilbert didn't say a word to him the entire time. When he'd got what he needed, he went to sit down next to Gilbert on the steps which led up to the war graves.

"I should go back," he said after a while, getting to his feet.

"I'll walk you to the gate. There's something I should probably show you," his voice seemed a little more serious than it had previously. Was something the matter? Gilbert started going the opposite way to the way they'd come. Feliks followed him, feeling confused. What was wrong with the way they'd come? It was faster, surely it would be more effective. They'd gotten about halfway down the path when Gilbert paused.

"Down here," he led the way along a different path, which had two rows of gravestones on either side. Again, they got about halfway down when Gilbert stopped. Feliks looked at the gravestone in front of them. The name on it read, 'Gilbert Beilschmidt', and it was fairly small and plain. He frowned, looking from it to Gilbert.

"Um, please tell me that's just a weird coincidence you found, and not what I think it is?" Gilbert didn't answer. Tentatively, he reached out his hand to touch Gilbert's arm. He couldn't feel anything there. The pieces began to click together. Gilbert's silent footsteps, the fact that he'd just appeared out of nowhere and now this. He backed away from the grave and the boy next to him. Questions flooded his mind, but he couldn't ask them. "You-you're a ghost!" he stammered, unable to say anything else. He wanted to run, get out of there as soon as possible. Not wanting to spend another minute in the company of this dead guy, he turned around and ran out of the graveyard, not stopping until he reached the gate. He didn't look back once.


	2. Chapter 2

**A.N- Sorry this took so long. I'd planned on finishing this story for last Halloween, but that didn't work out. Nevertheless, here's chapter two. Hope you guys enjoy it, please read and review! Also, I apologise in advance for the cliffhanger ending. Once again, I don't own the characters.**

It was just over a week later that Feliks saw Gilbert again. A week spent acting like their encounter in the graveyard had never happened, of not letting it be known that he'd literally seen a ghost. He'd almost succeeded in pushing Gilbert from his mind when he arrived at school on Monday to find there was a new kid in his form class. A new kid with messy white hair, bright red eyes and pale white skin. He froze at the sight of him. Gilbert Beilschmidt, the boy who was meant to be dead. What was he _doing_ here? Gilbert appeared to have recognised him, judging by the fact he was smiling right at him. Feliks was just about to go up to him and ask what was going on when he felt a light tap on his arm. Glancing up, he saw that it was his friend, Lizzie.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked, sounding concerned. He nodded, not wanting to tell her about Gilbert.

"Yeah, sure," he smiled at her and went to sit down. After a moment, she followed him.

"What's the story with the new guy? Do you know him or something?" he sighed. Of course Lizzie had caught him staring at Gilbert. Now he just had to make it seem like that hadn't been because Gilbert was a literal dead guy walking, and also convince her that it hadn't been because he was attracted to the other boy. That wasn't true, of course. How could it be? He didn't know anything about him besides the fact he was German and dead. Knowing Lizzie, though, she'd probably end up jumping to that conclusion.

"Nothing's up. He just looked a bit like someone I used to know. It's probably just a coincidence, though."

"I see," after a moment, she spoke again. "Where did you think you knew him from?" Is he an ex or something?"

"No, nothing like that. Really, Lizzie, I thought we've been over this. I don't have exes. If I did, you'd probably be the first to know about it," he wished Lizzie would drop this. She meant well, he knew that. It was just a little annoying, having this conversation every time Lizzie saw someone he might be interested in. She hadn't given up yet, despite how often her efforts ended up failing. He wasn't really interested in dating at the moment, and hadn't been for about a year now.

"You've got a point there," she smiled glanced over at Gilbert. "I was just curious. I mean, he doesn't really seem like your type, but you never know."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he wasn't aware that he even had a type, let alone one Lizzie knew about. Then again, he probably should've expected that. They were best friends, after all.

"Nothing," she said with a sigh. That was the end of their conversation. For the rest of form, they sat in silence. Occasionally, Feliks glanced over at Gilbert, still not quite believing that he was really there. It was impossible. It had to be, ghosts weren't real. He'd already decided that the incident in the graveyard had been a figment of his imagination. It hadn't happened. He sighed, and looked away from the new boy, who was still smiling at him. Maybe it was just a coincidence. That would make a lot more sense.

When the bell rang for first period, Feliks was glad to leave the room. He was almost out the door when he felt a hand tugging his sleeve. When he turned around, the new boy- he wasn't going to think of him as Gilbert until he knew for sure- was standing there.

"Um, do you want something?" he really hoped that wasn't the case, although that seemed unlikely.

"Just wanted to say hello, Feliks," he said, calmly, as if this was perfectly normal. For a moment, Feliks wasn't sure how to respond. Then he decided honesty would be his best option.

"That doesn't make any sense, though. You're dead, right? How are you here? Why are you here? And why are you talking to me?" normally he wouldn't ask so many questions, but he wanted to know what was happening.

"I can't tell you that here. Too many people around. I can't have people finding out about the whole me-being-dead thing, they'll freak out!" he did have a point there. The news that the new kid was a ghost most likely wasn't going to go down very well. He sighed, knowing he'd have to wait to get the answers he wanted. Gilbert just smiled, which was even more annoying. In an attempt both to sound normal and to change the subject, Feliks decided to ask Gilbert something now.

"Um, do you know where you're meant to be just now?" he knew it was a lame question, but he didn't have any ideas. Gilbert just shrugged, and pulled out a slightly crumpled piece of paper from his pocket. How had he managed to get it crumpled already? He must've only had it for a couple of hours at the most. Whatever, that wasn't important. Feliks considered going out into the hall, but since it was pretty crowded, he decided to wait a little bit.

"Well, according to this, I'm in English first. What about you?" Gilbert's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Um, I think I'm in French. They're in the same corridor, so I can walk with you, if you want," Gilbert nodded and grinned at him, and Feliks found that he had to look away. He rolled his eyes and started to lead the new boy down the corridor.

When Feliks made it to his French class, he was almost glad to be away from Gilbert. It would be good to get some time to think about what he was going to do. He would have to talk to Gilbert later on, and try and find out what he was doing here. He was so distracted, thinking of Gilbert, that he forgot where he was until he felt someone nudging his arm.

"Hey, you okay?" it was his other best friend, Toris. Well, at least, they had been best friends, until Feliks had ruined it by falling in love with him. Now he wasn't sure what they were. They didn't even talk much since Toris had started dating Natalya Arlovskaya at the start of the year. Feliks still wasn't sure what all that was about.

"I'm fine," he sighed. "Honestly, why are you so concerned?"

"Because, despite everything, I still consider you my friend, and I still care about you on that level," he said it like it was obvious, which for some reason just made Feliks annoyed. Frowning, he turned to face the front of the room, not wanting to talk any more.

It wasn't until the end of the day that Feliks got a chance to properly talk to Gilbert. He hadn't been able to be alone with the ghost boy for long enough all day, despite his best efforts. Wherever they went, there was the constant threat of a teacher or another student walking past, and Gilbert hadn't been willing to take that chance. Anyway, Feliks had been too busy trying to get him caught up on the forty years of history and culture that he'd missed out on while being dead. They'd covered a decent amount of ground so far, but there were still a few gaps to fill.

When the final bell rang at the end of the day, Feliks made his way to the main entrance of the school. Gilbert was going to meet him there, and explain to him how he was alive, and what he was doing at Feliks' high school, of all places. When he arrived at the door, Gilbert was already standing there, waiting. He sighed, and started walking quicker, not wanting to keep him waiting any longer.

"Hey, sorry I'm late." he said, when he got to where Gilbert was standing. Gilbert just smiled and pushed open the door.

"It's fine, I just got here a minute before you showed up." The two of them walked out into the cool, early-October air. Feliks started to head away from the school, towards home. Gilbert walked beside him. It wasn't until they were safely past the school gates that he started to speak.

"So, you're probably wondering what I'm doing here."


End file.
